Til Death Do We Part
by Cybra
Summary: A simple date ends in tragedy. Based on a true story. WARNING: Shonen ai and character death!


'Til Death Do We Part

By Cybra

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Warning: Shonen-ai alert! Also, Ichijouji and Izumi physical torture ahead!

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A/N: Well, I was thinking about this one accident we had down here in Florida a while back and came up with this little story. Now, most of the facts here are _actual_ facts about the accident. (However, I don't know specific details like I have written here. That's just this writer's work.) However, some things were changed.

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Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful characters of Digimon. If I did, Ken and Koushiro would have more scenes together, and I'd be swimming in an ocean of money.

Ichijouji Ken combed out the last knot in his chin-length blue hair. He smiled at himself in the mirror. He wore a simple outfit consisting mainly of a violet sweater, blue jeans, and sneakers. No one glancing in his direction would give him a second thought, allowing him and his date to be left alone. It was most annoying to be getting ready to kiss when half a dozen crazed girls run up to you.

"Ken," Mrs. Ichijouji began him, knocking on his door, "your…friend…Koushiro is here."

"I'll be right there!" he called. He glanced in the mirror and sighed. "Why doesn't she just say 'boyfriend'?"

His reflection rightfully appeared as exasperated as he was, but offered no answer to his rhetorical question.

As he left his room, the slightly older redhead stood outside his door waiting for him. The red-haired teen grinned at him.

"I always did like that outfit," Izumi Koushiro told his boyfriend, allowing his eyes to sweep over the blue-haired boy. "It makes you look almost normal."

Ken playfully punched the older teen. He called out to his mother, "We'll be back by eleven!"

"All right. Have a good time."

Ken shook his head at his mother's lack of enthusiasm, but allowed himself to be lead out the door by Koushiro.

Their relationship was a unique one when it came to romantic relations between boys. Unlike most homosexual couples, neither Koushiro nor Ken could figure out who was the "male" half of the relationship and who was the "female" half of the relationship. It mostly depended upon whatever mood they were in. Sometimes Koushiro would be the seme and Ken would be the uke. Other times, it was Ken as the seme and Koushiro as the uke.

Takaishi Takeru once told the pair that it gave him a headache to try to figure it out. He had been cut off mid-sentence when his boyfriend – none other than Motomiya Daisuke – had planted a kiss on his lips.

Ken swung himself into the passenger's seat of Koushiro's car: a white 1996 Chrysler Cirrus. Koushiro sat in the driver's seat.

"So…what do you plan on doing tonight?" the younger of the pair asked.

"I don't know…I was thinking we could maybe get something to eat and then go see a movie," the older one replied, starting the car.

"Are you sure about the seeing part?" the Ichijouji boy asked, teasing.

As he guided their white "chariot" through the streets, Koushiro gave his familiar smirk/smile while replying, "Well…maybe a _little_ kissing in the back row won't be out of line. Just let's not overdo it."

By now, they were making a left turn on a green light. What they did not expect was that a wildly swerving, speeding car would run the red light. Unfortunately for the pair, they were in the middle of a left turn with no way to dodge the speeding car.

"What the – ?!" Ken began, staring at the oncoming headlights.

"Ken! Hold on to something! This is gonna be bad!" Koushiro told him.

It was _worse_ than bad. The speeding car slammed into the left side of their car. The side caved in, allowing window glass to fly everywhere.

As if the Fates were not appeased by this limited amount of senseless destruction, the two cars slammed into a wall, pinning the Cirrus to the wall and causing the car to crush inward on itself. The speeding car's front was crushed, but the driver was unharmed because the amount of alcohol he had imbibed was more than enough to make his body as relaxed as rubber yet not enough to cause the driver to pass out.

All the while, screams of agony escaped the crushed confines of Koushiro's car. Two voices could be clearly heard. The occupants of the car were still alive, but in severe pain.

A casual passerby became a witness to this horrible collision. She gasped in horror as she saw the damage and heard the screams. Immediately, the woman whipped a cell phone out of her purse.

"Hello! There's been an accident! The location is…"

~@~

Mr. Izumi glanced up at the clock. It was already 9 o'clock. Two more hours, and his son would be back from his date with the famous Ichijouji Ken.

The man sighed. It did not make sense. Koushiro was his only son and was supposed to carry on the family name. The red-haired teenager was supposed to give his mother the grandchildren she wanted. Mr. Izumi knew he should be happy that his son was happy, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Ever since the romantic relationship between their sons had begun, the two sets of parents had been cordial but cold to one another. It exasperated the two teens, but they had known there was nothing to be done about it. Even though Mrs. Ichijouji and Mrs. Izumi were starting to be a little less unfriendly to one another, the situation remained mostly the same.

The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. His wife picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Mrs. Izumi?" a formal masculine voice asked.

"Yes?"

"I regret to inform you that your son has been in an accident."

"What?! My son's a safe driver!"

"It wasn't his fault, ma'am. A drunk driver was speeding and ran a red light. His car pinned your son's car against the wall. He and another boy – Ichijouji Ken – are still trapped in the car. The drunk driver was unharmed, but has been arrested at this time."

By this time, Mr. Ichijouji had switched from the handset to the speakerphone. "Are the boys all right?"

"They've been injured, but the seriousness of their injuries is still being evaluated. We request that you come to the site of the crash."

"Yes…of course…"

~@~

Mr. Ichijouji gazed at the two cars in morbid fascination. The drunk driver's car was being slowly and carefully pulled away from the Izumi boy's car. The once beautiful white car was smashed.

The screams that had been heard there earlier were now silent.

When the Izumi adults arrived, he whirled on them. He hissed, "Your boy did this!"

Mr. Izumi was about to retort when Mrs. Ichijouji told her husband, "This is no time for accusations! We have to make sure Ken and their son gets out of there!"

Mrs. Izumi gave Mrs. Ichijouji a thankful look for breaking up the fight before it could fully begin. The other mother merely nodded at her look.

At the same time, a paramedic gazed through the smashed window to see the two trapped teenagers. Their faces were twitching with pain, but their screams had ceased. He noticed the trickling of blood coming from their bodies. It did not take long for the paramedic to realize the hopelessness of the situation.

Sighing, he turned and walked towards the distraught parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji? Mr. and Mrs. Izumi?" he asked. At their nod, he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Izumi asked, her voice quiet.

"They're not dead. Yet. I guess their voices gave out which is why they stopped screaming. From what I can tell, your sons have serious injuries. The only thing keeping them alive is the pressure the crushed car is placing on their bodies. This pressure is keeping them from losing too much blood."

Mrs. Ichijouji clung to her husband and began to sob. Mr. Ichijouji's heart clenched as he stated, "So you're saying that if you try to cut them free, they'll die."

The paramedic nodded, his eyes sympathetic. "I truly am sorry. There is nothing we can do. As we open the car up, your sons will bleed to death."

Mrs. Izumi was now being held in her own husband's arms as she shivered and sobbed.

The two fathers looked at one another, for once not with the cordial yet unfriendly looks they usually gave each other. It had been a disappointment to both families when they had realized that their sons had fallen for one another, but it didn't matter anymore.

Mr. Ichijouji and Mr. Izumi knew in their hearts that it was time to tell their respective sons goodbye.

"Can we at least go seem them?" Mr. Izumi choked out.

The paramedic sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You'll be in the way of the rescue team."

__

'Rescue team? Why would they call it that? They're going to kill our sons!' Mr. Ichijouji thought angrily.

"It would be inhuman to leave them in there even if it kept them alive," Mr. Ichijouji stated, his voice surprisingly calm. "Please remove my son from the car."

"I say the same," Mr. Izumi agreed, his own voice choked.

The paramedic nodded in what seemed like resignation as he turned and nodded to the awaiting crews.

"Just tell our sons…we love them…" Mrs. Izumi begged through her tears.

"…We'll try."

What neither set of parents knew was that their boys already knew.

~@~

Before the paramedic had peeked into their prison, Koushiro's hand had gripped onto Ken's. The two held hands and waited. Both were too afraid to let go. They were afraid that the moment they released each other, that they would somehow lose each other.

As time passed, the pair continued to wait, their faces twitching in pain. Their hands would sometimes grip each other more tightly as a wave of pain would wash over them.

Slowly, the pressure the car was placing on them began to lessen. Ken felt a warm liquid beginning to flow more freely. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that what had been a small trickle of blood was becoming more like a small river.

And the river was slowly flowing more freely.

The blue-eyed boy turned to face his boyfriend. Koushiro's black eyes were wide in shock.

"We're bleeding to death…" Ken whispered, fearful and confused. "Why?"

"The car. It has to be because of the pressure that was on us."

Realization hit the younger teen quickly. There was no way out of this one. No second chance, no miraculous escape, no cheating death once more.

It was almost game over…

…And there was nothing either of them could do about it.

A simple date would end in the death of them both.

The redhead felt his boyfriend shudder beside him. He focused his full attention on the younger boy. "What is it, Ken?"

"Can…you promise me something?" Ken's voice sounded desperate, so Koushiro nodded as a response. Ken took that as his cue to go on. "Wherever you end up…don't forget me, okay?"

Koushiro's blood almost froze. It was true that Ken had never fully forgiven himself for the terrible things he had done as the Digimon Kaiser, but Koushiro had been helping him with that. When he said that last statement, it meant that Ken felt that when they died, Koushiro would go to whatever Paradise was on the other side while Ken would be met with the flames of Hell.

The hand of the arm that had been severely wounded in the crash took the place of his better hand where it gripped Ken's. The arm attached to his better hand wrapped itself around Ken tightly, not wanting to let him go. However, even this tight grip seemed weakened.

"Ken, wherever I end up, you're going to be right there with me. I promise."

The blue-haired teenager rested his head against his true love's good shoulder and squeezed Koushiro's hand tightly. However, his grip was weakening as well. Koushiro rested his head against Ken's head.

Crimson blood was flowing even more freely now, allowing their strength to be drained away far more quickly than before.

"Aishiteru, Kou-chan. Sayonara…"

"Aishiteru, Ken-chan. Sayonara."

Memories of happiness and sadness flashed before the two teens' eyes. Years gone by presented themselves once more with incredible clarity. The happiest moments were when the two of them had been together as they had kissed, hugged, and simply spent quality time together. Other happy moments included their Digimon and how those two specific Digimon had ended up together as well.

Finally, the memories began to fade. The years finished their silent dance as darkness began to cloud their vision.

Simultaneously, unknowingly, Ken's ocean blue eyes and Koushiro's midnight black eyes closed, never to be opened again.

When the paramedics reached their bodies at last, they were still holding each other in their dead arms. Even in death, they would be together.

And so Ichijouji Ken and Izumi Koushiro became two more statistics to support the evils of drunk driving.

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A/N: In the original accident, it was four girls in the car, the driver turned to talk to one of her friends, they ran a stop sign the driver didn't see, were hit by another car, and got crunched. The two girls in the backseat died instantly while the two in the front seat were only alive for the same reason Koushiro and Ken are in this fic and they died for the same reason. Thank you for reading.


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